Three attempt 1 RM

Squat - 300 lbs = 1.898xBody Weight - Very happy with.

Strict Overhead Press - 130 lbs = .823xBW - Not happy with.

Deadlift - 350 lbs = 2.215xBW - Satisfied but should of went for 360lbs.

Total = 4.94xBW=780.5 lbs.

The results from all contestants who competed canada wide are posted at http://steelcitycrossfit.com/crossfit-total-national-results/

For info. on the Crossfit Total as well as the rules and reasoning to the lifts click here http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/52-2006_CFTotal.pdf

By: Charles Poliquin

Chin-ups involve the sternal portion of the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major, posterior deltoid, the rhomboids, the middle and lower portions of the trapezius, and the elbow flexors. A wide variety of sports require strength in these muscles, particularly sports that require powerful upper body pulling action such as judo and wrestling.

A chin-up specialization program will not only build impressive width and thickness to your back but will also pack solid inches on your arms by promoting growth on your biceps, brachialis, brachio-radialis and pronator teres. You only have to look at the arm development of Olympic gold medalists in gymnastics Andreas Wecker (GER) and Yurij (ITA) to be convinced. These individuals are not known for their volume of training on the Scott bench, but more for their countless volume of pull-ups and chin-ups on the various gymnastics apparatus.

I already can hear the people say, “I will just substitute pulldowns instead of chins”. Sure go ahead but you will not get the same results, and you will still have the lat spread of a cigarette. The neuro-physiological reasons why chin-ups are superior to pulldowns are beyond the scope of this article. But to put it briefly: a classic example of the difference between chin-ups and pulldowns is the fact that a chin-up is a close-chin exercise (body moves towards resistance) and a lat pulldown is an open chain exercise (resistance moves towards the body).

These two types of exercise (open vs close chain) require completely different recruitment patterns although the exercises may look similar visually. But the fact that is clear, a great back is built much faster through chins than through pulldowns. Very much the same way that squats and deadlifts cannot be matched for lower body development.

Chin-Ups vs Pull-Ups: What Is The Difference?

In kinesiologese, and throughout this article, pull-ups are chin-ups done with a pronated grip (palms down grip) and chin-up are done with either a semi-supinated (palms facing each other) or with a supinated grip (palms facing you grip). What is the best grip for chins?

There is no such thing as a best grip for performing chins. Empirically speaking, the people I know with the best upper back development use a myriad of grips to recruit as many back muscles as possible. You just have to look at the upper back development of the gymnasts who medalled recently in the still rings event at the Atlanta Olympic Summer Games.

How To Perform Chin-Ups Properly…

Your most basic chin-up is the supinated chin-up. This type of chin-up have the greatest range of movements from all chin-ups for both the lats and upper arms. The starting position begins with a bar grasp in a supinated or palms up position. The hands should be held at shoulder width or slightly narrower. The arms should be straightened in a fully extended position with the torso in line with the upper arms. To begin the ascent, the relatively strong upper back and elbow flexor muscles will be used, as the elbows are drawn down and back.

Click To Enlarge Supinated Chin-Up!

The ascent should continue until the chin clears the bar. It’s important to remember that before initiating the ascent, the athlete should inhale. During the ascent, the pulling action and leaning back action must be done simultaneously. Upon descent, exhaling begins and the trunk should come back to an upright position. As the descent is completed, the arms should be fully extended and the shoulder blade should be elevated. (THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) To complete the range of motion, the upper arms and scapulae adductors must be stretched on every repetition. The legs should stay in line with the torso as much as possible. There should be no flexion of the hips, as this will lower the quality of the exercise.

Wrist straps can be used by trainees who have weak forearm strength and risk losing their grip, or for trainees who find that their forearm muscles are fatiguing before the upper back. However, I prefer if the trainee does not use straps, as in the real sporting (i.e. judo match) you will need to use your lats without the help of the crutches that straps are.

Progressions Of Chin-Ups

Undoubtedly, the chin-up requires a certain amount of strength. For novice trainees, starting a strength program, using a series of progressions will help build up the strength level.

The first progression starts with the athlete hanging from the chin-up bar. The knees should be bent. Then a spotter should support the athlete at the ankles during the ascent. If extra assistance is required during this phase, the athlete can extend the legs against the spotter’s base of support. Once able to perform 12 repetitions in this style with minimal assistance, the athlete is ready to move on to the next progression.

In this progression, the same position is used, but this time only one ankle should be in the spotter’s hands. The extra weight of the free leg will increase the overload on the muscles, providing you are overcompensating with the other leg. That is the reason a good spotter who gives you just enough help at the waist is a much better alternative.

When 12 repetitions can be performed with minimal assistance, the athlete can move on.

Here the position is the same, but this time the spotter will hold the waist. As the athlete strengthens, he or she will require assistance only in certain parts of the range of motion.

During this portion of the movement, the spotter should offer only enough assistance to help in clearing the bar.

Once to this point, the athlete will be able to perform the full range of movement without any assistance.

The athlete is now ready to use additional loads. An increase in overload is accomplished by one of the following:

• Placing a dumbbell between the ankles
• Wearing a power hook attached to a weightlifting belt.
• Wearing a chin/dip belts with weights attached to it.

Variations Of The Chin-Ups & Pull-Ups

As gymnasts, wrestler, and judokas have shown throughout the years, there are many effective variations of this exercise that can be used to boost your level of back mass and strength.

Narrow Parallel Grip Chin-ups

For instance, to provide a greater overload for the shoulder extensors, use a narrow parallel grip. Many gyms are equipped with V-handles chin-up stations, which are set 6 to 8 inches apart. Focus on bringing your lower chest to the handles as you pull yourself up. This variation is for the more advanced bodybuilder.

Narrow Supinated Grip Chin-ups

In this variation the grip is supinated but you will leave only 4 to 6 inches between the little fingers, this will increase the overload for the elbow flexors. In fact, it becomes an exercise where the load is shared almost by the torso and the upper arms. Which makes it a great arm exercise for those of you who have a Milwaukee tumor hanging off your torso.

Medium Parallel Grip Chin-ups

Arthur Jones, of Nautilus fame, was a strong proponent of this variation of the chin-up exercise. In this variation the handles are 22 to 24 inches apart, In fact, you can have access to this exact grip on all Nautilus multi-station machines. In this variation, the hands are semi-supinated (palms facing each other, also known as neutral grip).

At this grip you have the best leverage, as both the elbow flexors and the shoulder extensors are in their most effective line of pull. You will find that this grip has the least amount of stress on your wrists, elbows and shoulders. It is the form of chins where you are most likely to be able to use additional loads.

Sternum Chin-ups

This variation popularized by Vince Gironda, involves keeping the torso leaning back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should touch the high bar. You can use either a supinated or a pronated grip. The grip varies from narrow to shoulder width. The latter being more indicated for the stronger trainee.

As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible, and arch your spine throughout the movement.

Towards the end point of the movement, your hips and legs will be at about a 45 degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbones pass the bar and you make contact with the bar with your lower sternum. By the time you have completed the concentric portion of the movement, your head will be parallel to the floor.

I would consider the king of compound movements for the upper back, because it works more than the lats, it creates a great overload on the scapulae retractors. The beginning of the movement is more like a classical chin, the mid-range resembles the effect of the pullover motion, and the end position duplicates the finishing motion of a rowing movement. If you are an advanced trainee, and you are pressed for time, I would make the sternum chin-up a staple of your back routine.

Narrow Pronated Pull-ups

Use narrow pronated grip where the spacing between both hands is roughly 4 to 6 inches. This grip increases the amount of overload on the brachialis and brachio-radialis muscles because in this anatomical position, the biceps brachii have a rather ineffective line of pull. For many individuals this grip is easier on their wrists than the supinated grip. It is another very effective upper arm builder, particularly if your brachialis muscles are under-developped.

Warning: At the bottom of the range of motion, the hanging position, if you are experiencing shoulder discomfort it is a warning sign that you may have less than optimal shoulder mechanics. You may want to consult a shoulder specialist that can evaluate and correct your shoulder mechanics).

Mixed Grip Chin-ups l

In this variation the trainee uses a mixed grip: one hand pronated, one hand supinated, for example on your first set, with the left hand use a supinated grip and with the right hand use a pronated grip. With this variation, a greater portion of the load is on the trainee’s left arm because the brain will shift the arm to the more mechanically efficient arm. The stronger the trainee the wider the grip. Make sure to equal sets and reps by reversing the grip on each alternating set.

Mixed Grip Chin-Ups II

The last variation is an even more advanced version of the mixed grip chin-up. This has the support hand placed on the working arm’s wrist. The stronger the athlete, the lower the hand is placed on the working arm.

The Subscapularis Pull-up

Probably what Professor Mengele would prescribe if in charge of a gymnast’s training. In this variation, you assume the starting position of the wide grip pull-up, and pull yourself to the bar until the upper pecs make contact with the chin-up bar. The nuance being that at the top of the movement, you push yourself away from the bar, and lower yourself under control. Believe me, your subscapularis muscles will curse you the next 3 days, as they are strongly activated to control the descent. Add a kip using your hips for another variation and to develop explosive power and make it more full body and to add cardiovascular aspect to it.

The Gymnast’s Extended Set Back Routine

This routine is for the advanced trainee only, it is inspired by the routines that Olympic gymnasts do to condition their enormous backs. You must be able to do 12 strict form shoulder width supinated chins, to do this routine.

1. Wide grip Pull-ups , as many reps as possible
2. 10 seconds rest pause
3. Medium grip Pull-ups , as many reps as possible
4. 10 seconds rest pause
5. Medium grip Chin-ups , as many reps as possible
6. 10 seconds rest pause
7. Narrow grip Chin-ups
8. Rest 3 minutes
9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 twice, cry and curse me.

Click here for a printable version of ‘The Gymnast’s Extended Set Back Routine’!

André The Flying Squirrel Routine

This routine is named after André Benoit, holder of the fastest in Luge double at the Lillehammer Olympics, who could do wide grip pull-ups with a 120 lbs dumbbell for a set of 3 reps on a 401 tempo. It is reserved for people who can chin-up with at least 33% of additional load for 8 reps (supinated grip shoulder width grip.)

1. Sternum Chin-ups 5 x 4-6 on a 601 tempo, rest 4 minutes between sets.
2. Subscapularis Pull-ups 3 x max reps on a 501 tempo, rest 3 minutes between sets.
3. Negative Close Grip Chins 3 x 4-6 rest 3 minutes between sets, use additional loads if possible, lower the body for a 6-8 seconds count on every rep.

• (1)Source: Brian P. Hamill, “Relative Safety of Weightlifting and Weight Training,” _Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, Vol. 8, No. 1(1994): 53-57
• (2)Zatsisorsky, VM “Science and Practice of Strength Training” Human Kinetics, 1995
• (3)Bosco C & Komi (1979b) Mechanical characteristics and fiber composition of human leg extensor muscles Eur J Appl Physiol 41:275-284
• (4)Sawyer D, Ostarello J, Suess E, Dempsey M. (2002). Relationship Between Football Playing Ability and Selected Performance Measures. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: 16(4), pp. 611 - 616.

(5)Stone, M.H., et al. Cardiovascular Responses to Short-Term Olympic Style Weight-Training in Young Men. Can. J. Appl. Sport Sci. 8(3): 134-9.

I don’t feel like I eat a lot, why am I not losing weight?
I eat very healthy, why am I not losing weight?

There are several healthy diets and hundreds of healthy foods out there, but just because they are “healthy” or you know some skinny people who follow these diets (raw food, vegetarian, calorie restriction, high protein, food combining, etc.) does not mean that they promote or encourage weight loss/fat loss and are right for every body. A diet that promotes fat loss is one that provides the proper amount of calories for YOU, based on your age, sex, weight/lean tissue and activity level. It should be balanced and contain some form of protein, carbs and fat at every meal and these meals should be made up of REAL WHOLE FOOD. A meal plan or diet such as the above encourages fat loss by keeping your blood sugar and insulin levels steady and regular, by supporting the growth of lean tissue, and by supplying an abundance of fibrous watery vegetables and fruit which help to cleanse and nourish your body while removing excess waste. The protein and fat in the meal will slow down the digestion of and therefore lower the glycemic index of the carbs at that meal, the protein will also stimulate the release of glucagon, a hormone that helps to burn fat as opposed to insulin which tells the body to store sugar as fat. Many years of eating refined carbs have made us sensitive to them. It is crucial to our health that our blood glucose level does not get too high or low, our body uses insulin and glucagon to make sure of this. After years and years of your pancreas repeatedly pumping out insulin to control high blood glucose levels the cells in your body stop responding to insulin(insulin resistance) forcing your pancreas to work harder and secrete more(hyperinsulinemia). This is called insulin resistance. Most people that are overweight or struggling to lose weight have this to some degree. Your pancreas cannot keep up with this demand and will eventually burn out, producing inadequate amounts of insulin to bring your blood sugar down to a normal healthy range. So your blood sugar levels remain high. This is adult onset diabetes or Type II diabetes. Hormones work together with one another. Control your hormones, control your weight. Do this by eating meals and snacks frequently and consistently that contain protein, carbs and fat from real food and by doing high intensity circuits and interval training(I’ll show you how). If you are not eating enough cals, or you are eating too many cals, your body will store them. If you are sensitive to carbs, even if they are healthy your body will store them, unless properly combined with protein and fat and low glycemic. A print out of guidelines for proper eating are yours free with any number of sessions.

By Lee Crompton - CPT, RHN

By following my guidelines for proper eating and exceptional health you can expect to experience an increase in energy, an increase in lean muscle tissue, a gradual loss of body fat, improved mental clarity and decreased carbohydrate cravings.

The guidelines are based on the Zone and the Paleo Diet. The Zone was developed by Dr. Barry Sears and is used to balance blood sugar and insulin levels while facilitating weight loss. The Paleo diet is bacically our original hunter/gatherer diet before industrialisation and manufactured food. It has been used successfully for weight loss, lowering insulin leves, and managing many disease symptoms. You can read more here about it.

It is balanced in that it contains protien, unrefined carbs and healthy fat. Their are no food groups missing although as you will see there are many foods missing(fake foods). Your guidelines for healthy eating offer a lot of food choices and is rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Freebies or foods that can be used freely are raw apple cider vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice, garlic, spices, herbs and gound kelp or dulse is encouraged so long as though their is no known allergy to iodine. Use these foods to enhance the flavor and nutritional value of your meals.

For following your meal plan, sticking to the guidelines and having dicipline you should reward yourself with two cheat meals per week at any time of what ever it is that you have been craving, use this meal wisely. This will prevent binging and help you to stay on track during tough times. You can make up very tasty snacks that can do a good job of satisfying cravings without having to use your cheat meal. A sweet and delicious shake made of 1/3 of a ripe banana, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup of plain whole yogurt(not typically paleo), and 1 tsp of flax, fish or olive oil should do the trick. Blend and enjoy as a shake or just mix in a bowl.

Use raw nuts and seeds (unroasted, unsalted), and add your fats to the meal at the end, after cooking when ever possible. An overly cooked or heated fat becomes unstable and more like a trans fat.

A good whole food multi vitamin/mineral may be taken to ensure that there are no deficiencies that could prevent optimum health. Eating the proper amount of nutrient dense foods and sprinkling ground kelp and dulse on your meals will help.

Do your best to drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily to ensure proper hydration and flush out waste.

You will find that there is a large amount of vegetables at your meals, do your best to eat as much of them as possible but be sure to eat all of your protein and fat as the latter two are what help to keep your insulin down.

GOOD LUCK, KEEP IT SIMPLE, TRAIN SMART, HAVE FUN

By Lee Crompton - CPT, RHN

If you’ve caused metabolic damage as a result of following starvation diets or losing weight too rapidly in the past, it can be extremely difficult to achieve any further fat loss at all. The good news is, metabolic damage can be repaired. All it takes is the right combination of metabolism stimulating exercise and metabolism stimulating nutrition (NOT just a diet), all done consistently over time.
The big irony is that most of the diet programs that claim to help you get rid of excess weight, only end up making it harder for you in the long run because they use harsh metabolism-decreasing diets and not enough exercise (almost never any weight training).
It may take a little longer if you have really messed things up with severe starvation dieting in the past, especially if you’ve lost a lot of lean body mass, but it is never hopeless. Anyone can increase their metabolism.
Most people get an almost immediate boost in metabolic rate when they start the program. However, the results are not going to be “overnight.” Give it a little time…
Within 3 weeks your metabolism will already be more efficient. Within 6-8 weeks, it’s burning hot. Give me 12 weeks of consistent diligent effort, sticking with all the metabolism boosting strategies I teach, and your metabolism really will become like a turbo charged engine, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that.
What’s most important for upping your metabolism is CONSISTENCY in applying the Burn The Fat nutrition and training principles every single day.
That includes:
• Meal frequency: eat 5-6 small meals per day.
• Meal timing: eat approximately every 3 hours, with a substantial breakfast and a substantial post workout meal.
• Sufficient Caloric Intake: maintain a small calorie deficit and avoid starvation-level diets (suggested safe levels for fat loss: 2100-2500 calories per day for men, 1400-1800 calories per day for women; adjust as needed).
• Food choices: Select natural, unprocessed foods with high thermic effect (lean proteins like chicken, turkey, egg whites and fish are highly thermic, as are all green vegetables, salad vegetables and other fibrous carbs).

* Cardio training: Push up the intensity a bit if you really want to get a metabolic boost. Walking and low intensity cardio is fine, but higher intensity is more metabolism-stimulating.
• Weight training: The basic exercises that include the largest muscle groups or even call into play the entire body as a unit (squats, front squats, split squats, deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts, overhead presses, all kinds of rows and core-activation exercises) will have a much greater metabolism stimulating effect than isolation exercises (concentration curls, calf raises, etc).
The weight training is extremely important in cases of “metabolic damage” because this is the stimulus to keep the muscle you have and begin rebuilding new muscle tissue, which is the engine that drives your metabolism.
The men don’t usually have a problem with the weight training, but I still hear women say they don’t want to lift weights as part of their fat loss programs. Well, people who wont lift weights can expect a very, very long metabolism “repair process” if they achieve it at all.
Consistency is the key.
Nothing will undermine the “re-building” of your metabolism like inconsistency. If you stop and start, or skip meals and workouts often, you will not even get off the ground.
After your metabolism is back up where it should be, it takes continued “stoking” of the metabolic furnace to keep it there. Once you get your metabolic engine running, you’ve got to keep feeding it fuel or the fire will die down.
Picture an old fashioned wood burning stove…
Imagine you’re in a cabin up in the mountains in the winter. It’s cold in there and you want to keep the cabin warm. Can you achieve this by feeding the fire once or twice per day? Nope. Not enough fuel to burn, so not much heat is generated.
What if you just toss an entire pile of wood in the stove all at once? Will that work? Nope. Lots of fuel, but can’t all be used at once… it just smothers the fire and the excess just sits there.
How about if you throw some tissue paper or crumpled newspaper in the stove, will that work? Nope - too quickly burning.
You have to keep putting small amounts of wood (the right type of fuel) on the fire at regular intervals or the fire burns out.
It’s also difficult to get the fire lit again. In the case of metabolism, it’s like going through that initial few weeks of overcoming inertia all over again.
Your goal is to get your metabolism burning hot and keep it burning and this cannot be achieved by missing meals, missing workouts or with sporadic, infrequent training.

I have only seen a handful of cases where all these things were done properly and there was still a longer “repair” process.
For example, one case was former ballet dancer. At 5′ 5″, she was previously 110 lbs and had increased to about 145 or so. She didn’t want to reach her previous 110, but find a happy medium of about 125 lbs.
I figured with 20 lbs to cut, this would be a simple and predictable process, but she had a challenging time (and I didn’t know why at first).
I later found out that she had been anorexic and bulimic for many years. This had caused a lot of damage, and although she did reach her goal, it took about twice as long as we had anticipated.
The good news is, even in this extreme case, the same nutrition and training principles worked! It just took a little longer. And by the way her program included some serious training with free weights and she ate a lot more (clean) food than she had ever eaten before. No “starvation!”
That’s the power of burning the fat and feeding the muscles.

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com.
If you’re interested in the healthy, sensible way to take off the fat, while keeping all your muscle and actually increasing your metabolism in the process, then my Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle program can teach you how. No gimmicks or false promises. Just the truth - you have to work at it and you have to be patient. www.burnthefat.com

It was narrowed down to the Greek islander’s. During the course of the study it was discovered that some of the longest life spans and lowest rates of heart disease were found in the people of Crete. Later studies confirmed that Cretans also had much lower rates of cancer as well as type 2 diabetes.

Now they call it the Mediterranean Diet but it’s really the whole lifestyle because in addition to the way they ate (which hadn’t changed much since ancient times), the hard working people of Crete, mainly farmers, got loads of physical activity. But what about their diet? Delicious meals full of vegetables and fruits, fish and meat and lots of healthy fats and no processed foods(refined grains). The Cretans regularly took in high amounts of fat-up to 40 percent of their daily calories-much of it coming from olive oil; their average saturated-fat intake was among the world’s lowest, most likely due to the fact that their meat was pastured/grass fed and therefore much leaner and healhier. This diet has also stood the clinical tests as well. Huge studies have shown that when people are put on a Mediterranean eating program, they tend to live longer and have lower rates of heart disease and some cancers.

Eat more whole foods and fewer processed foods; avoid trans fats and use non hydrogenated fats, particularly monounsaturated fats like olive oil, for cooking and flavoring foods, and for salad dressings; eat an abundance of vegetables, especially leafy greens every day; eat some fruit, sprouted or fermented whole grains and legumes unless diabetic or insulin resistant. Keep animal-based foods clean and lean (organic and grass fed) including raw unpasturized dairy products if possible; eat nuts and seeds, such as almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds regularly in moderate amounts and raw or sprouted, not roasted, blanched or salted. Excessive heating of any unsaturated fat will damage or alter its molecular structure turning it into a trans fat and making what could have been very healthy into something very unhealthy. Olive oil and coconut oil are best for cooking.

 For some examples you can check out my recipes page.

By Lee Crompton - CPT, RHN

Because of outdated stereotypes and myths, womens fitness has suffered  unnecessarily. The truth is that women who practice the same well-designed strength training programs as men benefit from bone and soft-tissue modeling, increased lean body mass, decreased fat and increased self esteem in exactly the same way as a man would. The only difference is that a man will put on muscle mass faster and easier because of hormonal differences, higher testosterone levels. Strength training for women should be the same as for men.

Women should strength train in the same ways as men, using the same program designs, exercises, intensities and volumes, relative to their body size and level of strength, so they can achieve the maximum change to their bodies in the shortest possible time.

It’s All About The Hormones - The role of testosterone and its effect on strength or power and size development is huge. This is why many men and athletes looking for an edge artificially increase there testosterone through the means of anabolic steroids. If a man artificially increased his testosterone to grow large muscles and the “normal” woman on average has about one tenth the testosterone of the “unassisted” man, then the theory that women in fitness shouldn’t lift hard because they will grow huge muscles has no merit. However the level of testosterone varies greatly among women. Women who have higher testosterone levels may have a greater potential for strength or power and size development than other women, but this is not a bad thing. The advantages of having muscle are numerous and if you ever do reach the point of not wanting any more size in a muscle group, then it is a simple matter of backing off in the intensity and load variables for that muscle and possibly reducing calories.

So what are the benefits of lifting some heavy weight once in a while and actually breaking a sweat?

- Enhanced bone modeling to increase bone strength and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

- Stronger connective tissues to increase joint stability which helps prevent injury so that you can train hard, stay active and burn calories!

- Increased functional strength in women for sports and daily activity. It doesn’t matter if you’re sprinting across the finish line or picking up your little one, it always gets easier and more enjoyable with strength. “Train hard so you can play easily.”

- Increased lean body tissue and decreased body fat; that is, you get to look good in whatever you wear.

- Higher metabolic rate because of an increase in muscle that is metabolically active and requires fuel to survive. That fuel comes partly from fat oxidation and calorie consumption. Because of this, even when you’re watching TV, you’re going to burn more calories daily because of your new found muscle.

- Improved self-esteem and confidence. Don’t we all want this? Looking good feels good.

In order to reap the benefits of weight bearing exercises, you must do just that — bear weight. If you rely solely on weight training machines, lift so lightly that you’re barely out of breath or never increase your weight or intensity, then your body will not respond to your training.

Making changes to your body is going to require some work. It can be difficult to skip the temptation of buying into the latest exercise fad that looks effortless and quick. If you stick to the basics and base your training around large multi-joint exercises that turn your body into a calorie-burning machine the rewards will be much greater and long lasting.

Examples of some multi-joint exercises for the lower body are lunges, walking lunges, step-ups, squats and deadlifts. For the upper body use multiple muscle groups in exercises like the bench press, push ups, shoulder press, pull-ups or pull downs, and for even more intensity and metabolism boost try the more explosive multi-joint exercises such as the variations of cleans and clean and jerks. There are many more than the above. Form, technique, posture and body positioning are all extremely important with the more advanced exercises as well as the not so advanced exercises.

The purpose of strength training in your fitness schedule is to put a demand on your body that causes it to overcompensate (get stronger, leaner, faster, etc.) so it won’t be caught off guard again. This process of overcompensating not only makes you stronger, but also by default, makes you look great. This theory is called the SAID principle – specific adaptation to imposed demands, AND this will only continue to happen if another principle is adhered to – Progressive Overload. You must give your body a reason to get stronger/change, as 12 reps at a given weight gets easy and 16 or 18 becomes possible it is time to increase the weight, the speed, the reps or the exercise itself. Increase the intensity!

By Lee Crompton - CPT, RHN